Pulse demodulating system



Sept. 29, 1953 E. BAUM PULSE DEMODULATING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 10, 1945 FILTER AMPLIFIER 36 SEARCH RECEIVER 7 AMPL IER SWEEP GENERAT 23 27 25 FIG. 1

' 2 AUDIO AMPLIFIER PULSE POSITION PULSE FREQUENCY A MODULATION MODULATION 20o F24 202 25 F IG. 2 FIG. 3

NUMBER OF PULSES MODULATION PU-SE WIDTH U FIG.4A FIG.4IB FIG.5

FREQUENCY PULSEv AMPLITLOE MODULATION MODULATION 604* 4502 700 r F|G-6A FIG.6B FIG. 7

C-W-A-M,

5300 A FIG. IO

F l (3.8 FIG-9 mmvron ELMER BAUM ATTORNEY in the microwave-re ion wh re teristics of the transmittedsignal. ,However,fan

parametersof the receivers are adjusted ,soias comes necessary to evolve: some other methods capable of translating'the intercepted" "signals 'plishing this purpose.

Patented Sept. 29, 1953 v a r151w OFFICE Elmer Beam; New York;

"' natiiihal 'standafd Electric Corp N. Y;, ass'ignor to Interoration, New

:YorkpN. Y; a" emulation of "Delaware mi a 49 e i i 10 Claims. (01. 250-29) Gr te mi Ti The invention described hereinmay be, manufactured and used by or for; the? Government; ior

governmental purposes, without- :the payment to me of any royaltyrthereon;

1945, Serial N6."s 1o,1e2

It isan additionalobject of this invention to provide a demodulatingsystem capable of translating the recei-ved ,pulse modulation signals into intelligence :signalswithout prior knowledge of This invention relates toa radio system capable 5 the-characteristics.- of the modulation signals. of demodulatin various :ty'pesx'of-vmodulation 'j 'Th -n yel featureswhichare believed to be signals that cannot be'=.demodulated readily zby characteristic oof the invention are set forthin known monitoring devices without "prior knowltheappended claimsptthesinventionitselfgh edge of V the characteristics of the modulation Fli both; astoritsorganization and methodsof signals. io r ii r:toa h r'withlthe f rth r bj s and The invention is particularly applicable for demodulating' or decoding secret transmissions pulse-modulation methods-are commons 5 I -'In pulse modulation systems, it isknown to transmit intelligence-by varying thei pulse-position, the number of pulses, the-,frequency'io'f-the pulsethe pulse-width; and the amplitude of the pulses. In the case of pulse-width-Zandpulseamp-litudemodulatiomgthe interception, decoding, and monitoring ,of the radioysignals, may ,be accomplished by means of "known receivers: designed to receive pulse+communication:intelligence without prior; knowledge ofithe chara'c- 2 intelligence transmitted; by means of pulserposition, pulse-number, or pulse-frequenoy;modulations, the usual w-pulse receivers cannot ,beaused for monitoring the receivedsignals unlessrthe 3 towork in the region of;-'the pulse permutations used for transmitting the intelligence signal, since in the systems-fthe -latterr;typ jthereceivers must be builtspecifically for thereception of the contemplated type of signals; "Ifhus, 3 ordinary c. W.A. M. or F. r'pul u tion receivers are not suitable as monitoring devices in the latter case, and should monitoring of a radio frequency band withl this-type of transmission ofintelligence be desired, it be- 4 without prior knowledge of the specific characteristics of the signals. ThinVen {discloses a monitoring device which is capableofaccom- 4 It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a demodulatingsyst'em which is suitable for demodulating various type f mb'dmation, 'such as C. WJ-A. M1 'm0dulation, '2'

modula- 5 tion, and pulse-modulation infwhich the intelligence is transmitted "by varying thepo'sition,

number, frequency, width; Oi ainpIitude 'Of the transmitted pulses -fin gence signal:

response to the intelliadvantages thereofi;may best v be 'unjderstoodzby reference to the further descriptionin connection withthe accompanying; drawings, in which Figure 1 is-g a block diagram of. a monitoring s e s fr 1 wll'igures 2 through 10 illustrate the various 1 3513611711188, suitablefor their use with i :the monitoringsystem: andathe efiects of various pulsemodulations ron; ;the images appearing at; the

l H i p -Reiferring to Fig. 1, the signals are intercepted bye ad p i n-directional wideebandantenna l0, whe reupon they are., impressed; on a receiver [2 which maybe asuper-heterodyne receiver or an ordinary detector receiver; o-tshoul d =crystaltypepfldetectionof a U; -:H. F. signal be preferred. Efhe-video signalsappearing "in the outputuof the re5:eiverga-re impressed on an amplifier l 4' and the output ofthe latter is connected across :the yerticakdeflection plates l-5-I 6 of a cathode-ray tube l havingr a; screen of medium,,;retentivity. .The output of the receiver is also impressed over alconductor, 18. on a; sweepucircuit for; timing the generationof a saw-jtoothqwaveused on the 5 horizontal-jdefiectioneplates 2l--'22 of the cathode-ray tubes ;'.When ,the ;intercepted signals are of;: t pu t p th sweep en g; ci cu t -20sho.u1d;i nclude a resistance-condenser net- .wor;k- .;for integrating the receivedgroup. of pulse 0 signalsy timing of; the saw tooth =wave- ;being per- "ffllme ;by m an ysth si ee a ed i nal: rath r itha pbv t zind ua gpuls s h t e ein- .terc p e i signal ere t e :C: W:. y e, connectio -1 -fi svno au a. and h sweep ge e 5 =,c cui wis syn h oni ed sh :ha seAn ape tur plate- 24 is plaee irectllo screen 2. f h

cathode ray tube, thegaperture-being preferably in the form of'ga triangularopening -25 as illustrated; in Figs. 2) and-9i gAn optical ='system,..;i;n- 0 eluding an zimagee-forming lens;.2'l,. is,=placed {di- :reotlyzbehin'd and-:coaxi'allywith aperture 25', this lens forming, .on' the'i'photoesensitivei surface of ai-pnoto-electric c'eli z e,'-r an image or the visual --indications'i producedi bnthe oscilloscope screen. The ioptical system is arranged sothat a isufiipressed on a suitable transducing device which transforms the audio signals into sound waves. The demcdulating system is also provided with an auxiliary channel including a low band-pass filter 32, an amplifier 34 and earphones 30 which may be connected to the output of receiver l2 by turning a switch 38 to the upper position.

The operation or" the system disclosed in Fig. 1 is as follows:

With the optical system 21 and photo-electric cell 26 removed from screen 23, a signal is tuned in at the receiver and brought into focus and synchronization on the screen of the oscilloscope by adjusting the sweep generator 20 and biasing and focusing potentials of the cathode-ray tube. The exact procedure that is 4 in the manner described previously, and after securing the best obtainable images of the pulses by adjusting the sweep circuit, optical system 21 and photo-electric cell 26 are swung into that position which places them against the screen of the oscilloscope, and the detection of the images is then performed with the followed for obtaining an image of a signal on the oscilloscope screen is as follows: when tuning of the receiver is gradually shifted from one end of the frequency band to the other for monitoring this band, and there are no signals intercepted by antenna l0, all that is visible.

on the screen of the oscilloscope is the so-called grass, which is a descriptive term used by the monitoring operators for the interference and noise signals which produce a flickering image on the oscilloscope screen having the appearance of grass, hence the name. When a signal is intercepted, because of the action of the automatic volume control circuit in the receiver, the gain of the receiver is automatically decreased by the A. V. C. circuit and the grass signal on the oscilloscope screen becomes at once smaller, and changes noticeably in appearance. If the A. V. C. circuit is provided with some indicating device, such as a magic eye indicator, the interception of a signal is also indicated on this device and the next step consists of adjusting the timing of the sweep circuit as well as its repetition rate in well known manner until either steady or shifting images, depending upon the type of modulation intercepted by the receiver, appear on the screen of the oscilloscope. If the modulation is of the C. W.-A. M. type, or F. M. type, or pulse-modulation type, it is detectable by ordinary receivers as mentioned previously. To ascertain whether the signal is of the type which can be demodulated by ordinary means, switch 38 may be operated to its upper position and the intercepted signal impressed on a band-pass filter 32 and amplifier 34 which impresses the intelligence signal on the earphones 3B. In this case the use of a photo-electric cell demodulator may be avoided altogether and conventional monitoring circuits including receiver l2, filter 32 and amplifier 34 used for accomplishing the sought result. The use of filter 32 is necessary only when the intercepted signal is a pulsemodulation signal and it is shorted by means of a switch 35 when C. W.-A. M. modulation is intercepted. As a rule the images appearing on the screen of the oscilloscope give fair indication so as to apprise the operator of the type of intercepted signal. However, when pulsemodulation of the pulse-position, pulse-number, or pulse-frequency type is intercepted and receiver I2 is incapable of interpreting them, the

pulses are imaged on the oscilloscope screen aid of aperture 25, photo-electric cell 26 and amplifier 28. In this type of detection, thereceived signals in the detected form-are impressed on amplifier I4, and the latter in turn impresses them on the vertical plates of the cathode-ray tube where they produce A-scan representation of the received signals along a horizontal sweep produced by the saw-tooth wave. The received signals are thus detected by means of the oscilloscope and photo-electric cell 26, into a variable space current in the photo-electric cell, which is varied in accordance with the modulation of the signal because of the presence of the triangular aperture 24 between the screen of the oscilloscope and the photo-electric cell. These signals are impressed on an audio amplifier 28 which, after amplification, impresses them on the earphones 30 for translating these signals into audible intelligence signals.

Detection of the pulse signals with the aid of the cathode-ray tube and aperture 25 is illustrated more fully in Figs. 2 to 10.

Fig. 2 illustrates two positions 200 and 202 of the intercepted pulse. The amplitude of the intercepted pulse is constant and the intelligence signal is transmitted by varying the position of pulse 204, hence the term pulse-position modulation. Any displacement of pulse 204 with respect to aperture 25 will either increase or decrease the amount of light intercepted by the photo-electric cell, and therefore the photo-electric cell is capable of detecting the pulse-position modulation. It is to be noted that while aperture 25 is illustrated as having its detecting edge 200 in a form of a straight line, this edge may be given in a concave form I000, illustrated in Fig. 10, to improve the detection of the signal.

In Fig. 3, a pulse-frequency modulation is illustrated, the detection of the signal being identical in all respects to that illustrated in Fig. 2. Since, in pulse-frequency modulation,

' the change in the number of pulses is ordinarily too small as compared to the velocity of the sweep, the use of the triangular aperture is preferable to the use of a rectangular aperture, since, as applied to the system illustrated in Fig. 1, and especially aperture 25, the pulsewhich the intelligence is transmitted by varying the number of the transmitted pulses per given time. Either a triangular aperture 400, or a rectangular aperture 402, may be used in this instance, the choice of aperture depending upon the velocity of the sweep and the encountered rate of pulse change. When the change in the number of the transmitted pulses per given time is relatively small, as compared to the velocity of the sweep, aperture 400 must be used and when the rate of pulse change is considerably higher, a rectangular aperture 402 may be used. In the latter case the total light intercepted by the photo-electric cell varies ..with the m f pu s ap ea in n th aperture.

In 'Fig. 5, 1 the efiect of.puls e-width modulation .onthe aperture is-illustrated, ,it obvious that in this case a triangular aperture ;5l)0 must ,be used for detecting the gsignal.

in Fig. 6, which illustrates a pulse-amplitude modulation, either arec-tangular, or-,-a-triangular apert re may 'be used. dependin upo the dere :cf d te ti n and inte ration merform d y r10 the circuits in the receiver .12. -When the out- ;putaof the receiver is such that the pul-se amplitude modulation appears as;an integrated signal, it produces a variable-amplitude line @011 on ,the screen of the oscilloscope and when this is the case, a triangular aperture must be used for detecting the signal. hen the signals are not integrated and drilled! gas individual pulses 602, .603 of variable amplitude, a rectangular taperturett-l will give better ,detectiomthan the triangular aperture. 7

.Figs. .7 .and 8 illustratethe ,detectionof frequency modulation "and continu0us-waveamplitilde-modulation respectively. ilnboth cases the detectionis similar tothat ,of E ig. 6a... sinc e.the

.detected signal exhibits itself ,as a variableamplitude-line ice or 800; therefore triangular apertures should be used in this case.

The detection system maybeso designed that either ,a triangular aperture of the type illusatrated in'Fig. or-av ectansula ap tur i l trated in Fig. 62), may be placed against the screen of the oscilloscope, depending upon the type of image produced on the screen, the form of the image dictating the choice of the optimum aperture.

From the description of the invention it is apparent that it is especially suitable for monitoring radio frequency signals which transmit the intelligence by means of pulse-position, pulsenumber and pulse-frequency modulation. The detection and translation of the intercepted pulse of this type is made possible by means of a cathode-ray oscilloscope and a photo-electric cell, the sweep circuit of the cathode-ray oscilloscope having all the necessary adjustable networks for selecting and positioning the intercepted signals in proper time relationship with respect to the aperture. It is the adjustable circuits of the cathode-ray oscilloscope that make the detection of such signals possible in the pulse receivers suitable for the reception of the pulse-position, pulse-number or pulse-frequency modulations. The parameters of the receiver circuit can not be made very readily adjustable over the necessary range of all possible permutations and therefore the receivers of this type are usually designed with fixed networks adapted to receive the specific type of modulation. By using a cathode-ray oscilloscope, an aperture, a photo-electric cell, and an adjustable sweep circuit, monitoring of the pulse-position, pulsenumber and pulse-frequency modulation, irrespective of the large variety of possible permutations in modulations of this type, is made possible through the adjustment of the sweep circuit.

While the invention has been described with reference to several particular embodiments, it-

will be understood that various modifications of the apparatus shown may be made within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A radio monitoring system, for monitoring radio pulse-communication transmission using pulse-position modulation, including a search rece ver. a cathodesv i os llo op h v n its vertical deflec on plates 1. 0am te to said :receive an p ur plat infro p t esc eeno said oscilloscope having a triangular aperture with one side of the triangle being parallel to 1 the base line produced by the electron beam on ,the screen ,of said oscilloscope, said side thus ,acting as a'base-line of saidaperture, a photoelectric .cell, an optical system between said ,aperture and said cellior focusing light appear- ;ing atsaidaperture on the cathode of said cell, ,an amplifier connected to said cell, a transducer connected toisaid amplifier, and a sweep generator, the output ;of said sweep generator bein nnect d to th .h riz nta pla e of s id .oseiilosce a and the z pu 1 said reenre atc beinacon qted tmsa r i f -ti n 2 e s ee r l'fvae :Q aid-gen o 0= as J reproduce the intercepted pulse Si nals assta- .tionary ,visual images :Qf v--.' sai d pulses along the vbase-,l ine: o1 said a .pertur e. .so long as said pulses ;are transm tted at a. c ns an ep io rate, and ,shiftable alongthe base line, of said aperture in i-respo setoaid nuls eno t m d t 2. A radio monitoringisystem forinonitoring .aradi n r y av n -availabl numb oipul :per unit-tim modulationasam sys m ludin -.a search receiv r. a method -r -os l os qpe ihavineits .v rti alsdeilecti ni a e i qn c e said receiver, a rplat sharin ;.a tri llel larly formed aperture .in front an .th f sai oscilloscope, one side of said aperture being parallel to the base-line produced by the electron beam on the screen of said oscilloscope, said side thus acting as a base-line of said aperture, a photo-electric cell, an optical system between said aperture and said cell for focusing light appearing at said aperture on the cathode of said cell, an amplifier connected to said cell, a transducer connected to said amplifier, and a sweep generator having its output connected to the horizontal plates of said oscilloscope, and its input to said receiver for timing the sweep voltage of said generator so as to reproduce the intercepted pulse signals as stationary visual images of said pulses along the base-line of said aperture as long as the number of the transmitted pulses per unit time is equal to a predetermined value, the timing of said sweep voltage being adjusted so as to shift the position of said visual images with respect to said aperture in response to a change in the number of pulses transmitted per unit of time.

3. A demodulator for time modulated pulses comprising means for producing a beam of energy, means for causing said beam to sweep through a cyclic movement in synchronism with the timing of said pulses in the absence of modulation, whereby coincidence of said pulses and a given part of said beam movement is varied in proportion to the amount of time modulation of said pulses, and means for causing a flow of electrical energy proportional in amplitude to the degree of coincidence of said pulses and said given part of the cyclic movement of said beam.

4. A demodulator according to claim 3, wherein the means for causing flow of energy includes means for deflecting the beam from its normal movement with respect to said given part of its cyclic movement according to the energy of said pulses.

5. A demodulator according to claim 3, wherein the means for causing the beam to have a cyclic sweep movement includes means for producing a voltage in response to the time modu- 3' lated pulses which is of substantially constant cyclic pattern, and means for deflecting said beam according to said voltage.

6. A demodulator for time modulated pulses comprising means for producing a beam of energy, a beam sensitive device, means for causing said beam to sweep through a cyclic movement, the path of which bears a. given relationship with respect to the location of said device, means for causing said beam to coincide with said device in response to at least certain of said pulses, and a circuit associated with said device for conducting a flow of current in response to coincidence of said beam and said device.

7. A demodulator according to claim 6, wherein said device includes means for producing light upon coincidence with said beam and means responsive to intensity of said light to produce flow of current.

8. A demodulator according to claim 6, wherein said device includes a fluorescent screen responsive to said beam for producing light, a light responsive cell associated with said screen and means for defining the active area of said screen with respect to said cell.

9. A demodulator for time modulated pulses comprising means for producing a cathode ray beam, means for producing a sweep voltage for controlling the cyclic movement of said beam to cause said beam to follow a given path. means for synchronizing said sweep voltage with the tim- 8 ing of said pulses in the absence of modulation, a beam responsive device for producing a current when said beam coincides with said device, and means to cause said beam to coincide with said device in accordance with the time characteristics of at least certain of said pulses.

10. A demodulator according to claim 9, wherein the means for controlling said beam in accordance with said pulses includes means for deflecting the beam from its normal path of movement in response to the energy of said pulses, the deflection of said beam controlling the degree of coincidence of the beam with respect to said device.

ELMER BAUM.

References Cited in the flle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,144,337 Koch Jan. 17, 1939 2,183,717 Keall Dec. 19, 1939 2,403,625 Wolff July 9, 1946 2,403,729 Loughren July 9, 1946 2,405,252 Goldsmith Aug. 6, 1946 2,407,169 Loughren Sept. 3, 1946 2,408,702 Sziklai Oct. 1, 1946 2,438,928 Labin Apr. 6, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 254,353 Great Britain July 2, 1926 

